Disposable plastic bag



00L 4, 1966 H VE 3,276,670

DISPOSABLE PLASTIC BAG Filed July 27, 1964 INVENTOR. KATHRYN B. HARVH ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,276,670 DISPOSABLE PLASTIC BAG Kathryn B. Harvey, Box 458, Huntington, Oreg. Filed July 27, 1964, Ser. No. 385,169 3 Claims. (Cl. 229-53) The present invention relates to improvements in a disposable plastic bag and a method for using the same, and more particularly it relates to the disposal of sanitary napkins and the like by means of a special bag.

The disposal problem in connection with sanitary napkins, and the like, is well known, but the present methods of disposal still leave a lot to be desired. This is particularly so, since the napkins cannot be flushed down the toilet on account of the resultant blockage of the plumbing. Nevertheless, a napkin has an offensive odor and an embarrassing appearance, and complete concealment and protection against these odors is of primary importance.

This problem is particularly acute in public rest rooms where traffic may be heavy and a rather large number of napkins require disposal, and particularly in public rest rooms where people tend to become careless and either flush the napkin down the toilet or exercise insufficient care in disposal because of the inconvenience. Such facilities are usually equipped with 'a receptacle that has a closed door which seals rather tightly and this assists in retention of odors therein.

In a typical disposal, the napkin is usually removed and folded in face-to-face relation to retain the soiled surface sandwiched within, and an additional piece of paper or the like is frequently wrapped around the outside. This package is then put into a semi-sealed container. When such disposal is effected, the rest room is retained clean and offensive odors areminimized. However, this requires an exercise of care by the person involved which is often not in fact performed, and it also requires the use of special equipment for holding the napkins to be disposed. In addition, it requires an additional disposal problem by the janitor who must service these containers and once again expose the napkins to the atmosphere where the odors become a problem. Moreover, the articles often continue in open view when they are hauled away to an incinerator or the like.

Accordingly, it isa primary object of the present invention to provide an improved method and article for carrying out a method whereby standard sanitary napkins may 'be easily disposed with a minimum of effort and equiprnent.

Another object of the invention is to provide a plastic bag for effecting this disposal which is capable of scaling in all odors, and which masks the appearance of the napkin to avoid any offensive appearance and eliminate the step of wrapping the napkin in paper or the like.

A further objectof the invention is to provide a plastic bag especially constructed for disposal of sanitary napkins from a thin gas-impermeable sheet of plastic material having a closed bottom of considerably smaller dimensions than the open top.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a plastic bag into which a sanitary napkin may be inserted and wedged into the bottom section thereof and secured to retain the napkin in substantially air-tight relation within.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a plastic bag of the character described which is comparatively simple in design, easily constructed, and absolutely reliable in operation.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a method of disposal utilizing a plastic bag which allows sanitary napkins to be disposed in standard open top waste Price basket containers without the prior drawbacks of offensive appearances and odors.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as the specification progresses, and the new and useful features of the disposable plastic bag and a method for using the same will be fully defined in the claims attached hereto.

The preferred form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this description, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the plastic bag constructed according to the invention;

FIGURE 2, a cross-sectional view taken substantially in the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3, a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially in the plane of line 3-3 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 4, a perspective view of the plastic bag of FIGURE 1 as it appears after the sanitary napkin has been inserted therein in accordance with the method of the present invention.

While only the preferred form of the invention is shown, it should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made within the scope of the claims attached hereto without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring to the drawing in greater detail, there is shown a plastic bag 11 for use in disposal of sanitary napkins and the like having an open end 12 and a closed end 13. The open end of the bag is constructed to open wider than the closed end whereby a folded napkin may be easily pushed through the open end and into a wedged position at the closed end.

In this way, the napkin will be tightly held in position and remain folded with thebag being long enough to knot at the open end between the napkin and the open end. Thus as seen in FIGURE 4, a napkin 14 is shown in phantom in a folded position within the plastic bag 11 and the bag is knotted with a knot 16 to close off the open end 12 and provide a sealing closure for the napkin 14. In order to obtain the desired knot the plastic material is flexible enough to allow easy handling and the walls of the bag are substantially impervious to the passage of gases 'therethrough.

The particular composition of the plastic bag is not critical so long as the plastic bag has the desired properties. Accordingly, most any plastic material capable of being formed into thin, flexible gas impermeable sheets may be utilized such as cellophane, vinylchloride compositions, polyethylene, or poly-methylmethacrylate materials; and these materials will be plasticized and processed in accordance with known techniques to provide the desired sheets. The air impermeability or gas impermeability is an important property in the plastic, because it prevents the escape of odors through the plastic walls which tend to be offensive and allows the package to be thrown away in opentop containers. In addition, the materials may be dispensed with in the usual fashion in the home and the usual attraction for dogs or the like that might upset the garbage cans is completely eliminated by the odor-proof package.

The thin-walled flexible structure is important so that a simple overhand knot or first knot may be used to seal off the end of the bag with the material being flexible enough that the knob may be drawn extremely tight.

Thus, in accordance with the invention, a method is provided for disposing of sanitary napkins and the like comprising the steps of opening an air impermeable plastic bag of the size constructed to receive the napkin and having an excess of bag at the open end thereof, and tying a knot in the bag to hold the napkin in sealing relation within. In its preferred form, the plastic bag is provided with a special construction and the napkin is folded over in face-to-face relation. In such a case, the soil of the napkin is generally on the inside and thereby generally hidden from view. In addition, this relation is retained by the preferred plastic bag of the invention. However, in certain instances, it is possible that unsightly stains might come to a visible surface of the napkin even when placed in this position, and it is preferred to provide a plastic bag which is opaque or at least contains sufiicient coloring to mask this stain influence.

The preferred completed structure is illustrated more completely in the drawings and referring again to the drawings, it is seen that the closed end of the bag 13 contains internal pleats 17 and 18 which are folded inwardly between a front wall 19 and rear wall 21 of the plastic bag 11. These pleats are then sealed to both walls and to each other through sealing line 22, so that the pleats 17 and 18 form two compartments on each side thereof at the bottom end of the bag. This sealing line or weld line 22 is easily obtained in thermoplastic materials such as vinyls simply by controlled heating of the plastic film so that the heating is sufiicient for the film to weld together but insufiicient for the film to melt away. Alternatively, other sealing methods may be utilized such as by means of a suitable adhesive, if desired.

The dimensions of the bag are constructed so that the closed end of the bag is approximately three inches long which width is generally suitable for the standard size of sanitary napkins. However, it will be appreciated that this dimension may be varied somewhat to meet specific requirements. It is important to have rather deep pleats, and the pleats may be of sufiicient fullness to meet each other, and in such a case the open end of the bags 12 will have a circumference of approximately 12" or fold to approximately a 6" width as shown. Actually, the pleats will probably not quite meet each other and generally they should each be in the range of say /3 to /2 of the width of the bottom of the bag.

In the use of the bag shown in the drawings, a napkin 14 to be disposed of is folded over into the U-shape shown in phantom in FIGURE 4 with the soiled side in. The bag 11 is provided with the open end 12 fully opened and the napkin 14 is then inserted into the bag. As the napkin is inserted into the bag, their way between the length of the U-shaped napkin on each side thereof, so that one end of the napkin is wedged into the compartment 23 between the front walls 19 and the pleats 17 and 18 while the other end is wedged into compartment 24 between the rear wall 21 and compartments 17 and 18. In this way, the ends of the napkin are wedged into position in the bottom of the bag and the pleats serve to automatically align the bag end with respect to the U-shaped napkin. The character of the bag with the side pleatings permits expansion for double napkins or hospital size and serves to accommodate various different sized napkins with the ends of the napkins wedging into the proper position. With the napkin thus in place, the end is gathered together by twisting or otherwise to seal in the napkin and knotted with a suitable knot 16. In this way, the loop or tie at the top prevents odor from escaping and the napkin from dropping out.

It is thus seen that with such air-impervious bags, stains from soiled napkins will not soak through nor will plates 17 and 18 find their odor permeate through. In addition, with opaque or heavily colored structures, stains will not show through. With such ease of disposing the napkins, it is believed that proper disposition will be promoted. In addition, it is believed that by having these plastic sanitary disposal bags available in public rest rooms, the few women who dispose of soiled napkins in the toilet, because they do not wish to allow them to be exposed to the publics eye, will dispose of the napkin in the bag and save costly plumbing bills. Moreover, less expensive equipment will be required to handle the bags thus disposed of in order to prevent odor or unsightly appearances that may be a frightening sight for small children. With the napkins so disposed, problems heretofore encountered during the transportation from the disposal container to the garbage incinerator are also improved because of the protection from exposure and offensive odors.

From the foregoing description, it is seen that I have provided a simple and effective method for disposing of sanitary napkins and a simple and practical improved disposal bag for use in this method.

I claim:

1. A plastic bag for use in disposal of sanitary napkins and the like comprising an envelope formed from a thin sheet of plastic material and having a front wall, a rear wall, and two pleated side walls folded so that the front wall and rear wall are positioned relatively close together, a seam across a bottom section of said front and rear walls and including the pleats whereby the pleats are held rigidly at the bottom, the other end of the bag being open with the pleats free to spread out, said pleats having the inner folds held in substantially converging condition at the bottom end of the bag so that the upper end of the bag may be stretched to a width of approximately twice the width of the sealed bottom, said bag being constructed of such a width at the closed end that a folded sanitary napkin may be pushed into a wedged position whereby the bottom of the bag holds the napkin in folded relation, the bag also being long enough to knot at the open end, said plastic material being flexible enough to provide a tight knot and having walls substantially impervious to the passage of gases therethrough.

2. The plastic bag defined in claim 1, in which the sealed closed end is approximately three inches wide at the sealed end, and in which the open end has a circular stretch of material of approximately 12 inch circumference whereby the width of the open end may be opened to 6 inches wide when flat.

3. The plastic bag for use in napkins and the like defined in plastic material is constructed of the disposal of sanitary claim 2, in which the an opaque sheet.

References Cited by the Examiner JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner. D. M. BOCKENEK, Assistant Examiner, 

1. A PLASTIC BAG FOR USE IN DISPOSAL OF SANITARY NAPKINS AND THE LIKE COMPRISING AN ENVELOPE FROM A THIN SHEET OF PLASTIC MATERIAL AND HAVING A FRONT WALL, A REAR WALL, AND TWO PLEATED SIDE WALLS FOLDED SO THAT THE FRONT WALL AND REAR ARE POSITIONED RELATIVELY CLOSE TOGETHER, A SEAM ACROSS A BOTTOM SECTION OF SAID FRONT AND REAR WALLS AND INCLUDING THE PLEATS WHEREBY THE PLEATS ARE HELD RIGIDLY AT THE BOTTOM, THE OTHER END OF THE BAG BEING OPEN WITH THE PLEATS FREE TO SPREAD OUT, SAID PLEATS HAVING THE INNER FOLDS HELD IN SUBSTANTIALLY CONVERGING CONDTION AT THE BOTTOM END OF THE BAG SO THAT THE UPPER END OF THE BAG MAY BE STRETCHED TO A WIDTH OF APPROXIMATELY 